Sony Tv Improves Big Picture

January 9, 1987|By HANS FANTEL, New York Times News Service

NEW YORK -- Two new items of video equipment, each in its own way, rise to the challenge posed by the current increase in video performance standards. They tackle the situation from opposite ends. One advances the limits of technology; the other enables the rear guard to catch up.

At the leading edge is Sony`s new projection TV set, which tries to resolve the galling contradiction between picture size and picture quality. So far, it generally has been true that the bigger the picture, the worse it gets -- and here`s an attempt to break through this impasse. The other development is Recoton`s updated FRED (Friendly Recoton Entertainment Decoder), which provides an easy and inexpensive way to add stereo to older monophonic sets.

With the growing popularity of large-screen projection TV sets -- whose sales rose more than 40 percent in 1986 -- many manufacturers have redoubled their efforts to deal with the traditional drawbacks of the big picture. These included loss of image detail with increasing screen size, and insufficient brightness, requiring the viewing room to be partly darkened and the viewers to sit directly in front of the screen. Different companies have tackled these difficulties in different ways, with Pioneer, NEC and Zenith all having made important contributions toward solutions of these obstinate problems.

Sony`s entry into this field takes the form of a surprisingly sleek 36-inch rear-projection model (KPR-36XBR), which has just been put through its paces by an independent testing laboratory at the behest of Video Review. The report states that ``the resolution of the 36XBR is the best we`ve ever tested for a rear-projection set. All other aspects of picture performance were unbeatable as well. The image looks good even when viewed from a sharp angle.``

Numerical measurements of various performance factors (such as resolution, convergence, interlace and luminance) bear out this assessment, as did subjective impressions gained by this viewer. In fact, the performance potential of this set exceeds the limits of transmitted video signals (either over the air or via cable) as well as the output of any home VCR. To do justice to the capabilities of this model, viewers may prefer to see prerecorded programs -- movies, etc. -- on LaserVision videodiscs rather than on tape because of the considerably better quality of the former.

The credit for this new benchmark in image quality for projection sets must be divided about evenly between several technical innovations incorporated in this model. One is in the optical system that guides the light from the image tubes to the screen. By shortening and simplifying the light path involving various mirrors and lenses, image detail has been improved. By the same token, the set could be made far slimmer than most other projection models, eliminating the bulky look hitherto typical of such designs.

A new cooling system for the tubes enables them to operate at higher levels of brightness and also improves contrast within the image. Finally, several new electronic circuits contribute to the favorable end result. These include automatic contrast correction to reveal subtle detail even in very bright or very dark image areas, and automatic focus compensation to allow for the difference in projection distance to the center and to the edges of the screen. Moreover, color accuracy is improved by a new method of separating the black-and-white components of the image from its chromatic content. Naturally, there is stereo sound, along with all the interconnecting options and other amenities one would expect for $2,800.

Aging TV sets without provisions for stereo can be readied for the dawning age of stereo TV by hooking up with FRED. This clever gadget, designed for Recoton by Larry Schotz -- one of the brightest young engineers in the video field -- taps the incoming signal from the TV set and decodes the stereo sound information, which older sets are unable to do. It separates the sound signal into the appropriate left and right channels and amplifies them. Only a pair of speakers needs to be added to complete the stereo setup.

Earlier models of FRED did pretty much the same thing but featured no built- in amplifier. An additional amplifier was therefore needed, which made the installation somewhat cumbersome. Not so with the new and updated FRED III. It delivers 12 watts per channel, which would hardly impress any hard-bitten audiophiles but suffices for most viewing situations.

No internal connection to the TV set is needed. Instead, a wire probe placed on the underside of the set picks up the signal by induction. To find the optimal spot for such wireless pickup of the signal to be decoded, the viewer just moves the probe along the bottom of the set, and when a sufficiently strong signal is sensed, a pilot light goes on. Alternatively, FRED III may be linked directly to the terminal marked ``MPX`` on TV sets equipped with such an output connector.

FRED III is physically unobtrusive -- a compact box measuring 3x13 1/2x8 inches -- and costs $199.95. Even if you add the cost of two speakers, this might not seem too much for the instant rejuvenation of an old but generally healthy TV set.